John 20:17
Jesus said unto her, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and saying to them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (KJV)
This verse is no problem at all in all the major versions we checked except for the NIV. It reads, Jesus said to her"," do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." The NIV causes a problem by using the word "returned" instead of "ascend," and making Christ say, "I have not yet returned to my Father." The Greek word means, "to go up" and although it occurs 82 times in the Greek New Testament, even the NIV translators have translated it "returning" only in this one place, and as "returned" in the next verse. Christ did not "return" to his Father as if he had been there before, rather he "went up" to his Father. This is the problem when people read 3 gods in this sentence and it is caused by a mistranslation and a misunderstanding of the original text. Thankfully other versions translate the verse more accurately. This is why it is a good idea to read the Scriptures from many different versions to get the real flavor of what the Scripture is saying and also it helps the serious Bible student to check with lexicons on the Greek words, commentaries, etc. to really understand what the Scripture means.
This verse is one of the strongest proofs in the Bible that there is no Trinity. That there is a God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. This idea is foreign to all Jewish people and Jesus was a Jew and he did not believe this and do not teach it and the Apostles and Paul never taught a Trinitarian concept ever. We can go all the way back to Deuteronomy 6:4 and read exactly how the chosen people of Israel, the people God chose for himself what they believed they believed.
Deuteronomy 6: "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! How could that be any plainer that God is one not 3 in one?
In John 20:17 Jesus said to Mary that he was ascending to "my God, and your God." Jesus' statement makes it clear that "God" is both his God and Mary's God. If Jesus is God, he cannot have a God, for by definition if someone has a "God," he cannot be "God." If Jesus had a "God" as he said, then he cannot be part of that God. This is especially clear in this verse because he and Mary have the same God. If he were God, then he would have been Mary's God, too. He would not have said that he was going up to her God, because "her God," i.e., Jesus himself, was standing right there. One of the most recognized principles of Bible interpretation, and one that is accepted by conservative scholars from all denominations, is that to be properly understood, the Bible must be read in a literal, "normal," or "standard" way, i.e., the words of the Word should be understood the way we understand them in everyday speech unless the figurative language is demanded by the context. Everyone understands the phrase, "my God." Christ used it both before and after his resurrection. He called to "my God" when he was on the Cross. If he was God who was he talking to? He told Mary he was going to ascend to "my God." He spoke of "my God" to both the churches of Sardis in Philadelphia (Revelation 3:2, 12). It is hard to see how Jesus can be assumed to be co-equal and co-eternal with God when he calls Him, "my God." The Bible simply means what it says in this verse: God is indeed both our God and Jesus' God.
Please study the following verses for yourselves:
Mark 12:29-30 Jesus answered, "The foremost is, HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."
Deuteronomy 4:39 "Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, he is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other."
Isaiah 44:6, 8 "thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of host: I am the 1st and I am the last, and there is no God decides me." "Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me, or is there any other rock? I know of none."
Isaiah 43:10-11 "you are my witnesses, declares the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. But for me, there was no God formed, and there will be none after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides me. And at the end of verse 12, it says "And I am God."
Joel 2:27 "Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other."
1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
John 5:44 "How can you believe, when you receive glory for one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?"
1st Corinthians 8:4-6 "Even if there are so-called God's whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through him."
James 2:19 "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder."
Jude 4, 25 for certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who are long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, unlike godly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. "To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen"
1 Timothy 1:17 "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
1 Timothy 6:14-16 "I charge you to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the proper time, he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen."
Hebrews 11: "And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him."
We have just read from the words written by Moses, Mark, Isaiah, Joel, Paul, John, James, Jude, and the writer of Hebrews and there are many others and they are all in agreement and share the same message: GOD IS ONE AND THERE IS NO OTHER! God is the sole creator. God is the highest supreme above all. His will is to know him through his son Jesus whom he created in the womb of Mary and gave him the kingdom message in Luke 4:43 but Jesus said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." This statement was given long before Jesus died, was buried, was crucified, and rose again on the 3rd day. Jesus is the only one in heaven at this time sitting at the right hand of God. He will come again as says in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 with the sound of the trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise 1st and then those of us who are still alive will join him in the air. When we die we will sleep, and unconscious sleep. Jesus said he is coming again in his reward is with him. If he is bringing his reward with him why are we going to heaven especially when we know he is coming for us? It makes no sense. What makes sense is all the Scriptures that talk of being "asleep" when we die. We can read in the Old Testament Moses died and he slept, Jacob died and he slept with his father's, David died and he slept with his father's, etc., etc. all the way through. There are many many Scriptures describing death and describe it as "sleep".
My prayer for you is 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." My prayer for you is that your hearts and minds will be opened to hear God speak with you about His Truth. My goal is to share God's word with you and not my opinions. I pray you will hear God's words, not mine, always.
Agape`
Judy Lund
Jesus said unto her, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and saying to them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (KJV)
This verse is no problem at all in all the major versions we checked except for the NIV. It reads, Jesus said to her"," do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." The NIV causes a problem by using the word "returned" instead of "ascend," and making Christ say, "I have not yet returned to my Father." The Greek word means, "to go up" and although it occurs 82 times in the Greek New Testament, even the NIV translators have translated it "returning" only in this one place, and as "returned" in the next verse. Christ did not "return" to his Father as if he had been there before, rather he "went up" to his Father. This is the problem when people read 3 gods in this sentence and it is caused by a mistranslation and a misunderstanding of the original text. Thankfully other versions translate the verse more accurately. This is why it is a good idea to read the Scriptures from many different versions to get the real flavor of what the Scripture is saying and also it helps the serious Bible student to check with lexicons on the Greek words, commentaries, etc. to really understand what the Scripture means.
This verse is one of the strongest proofs in the Bible that there is no Trinity. That there is a God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. This idea is foreign to all Jewish people and Jesus was a Jew and he did not believe this and do not teach it and the Apostles and Paul never taught a Trinitarian concept ever. We can go all the way back to Deuteronomy 6:4 and read exactly how the chosen people of Israel, the people God chose for himself what they believed they believed.
Deuteronomy 6: "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! How could that be any plainer that God is one not 3 in one?
In John 20:17 Jesus said to Mary that he was ascending to "my God, and your God." Jesus' statement makes it clear that "God" is both his God and Mary's God. If Jesus is God, he cannot have a God, for by definition if someone has a "God," he cannot be "God." If Jesus had a "God" as he said, then he cannot be part of that God. This is especially clear in this verse because he and Mary have the same God. If he were God, then he would have been Mary's God, too. He would not have said that he was going up to her God, because "her God," i.e., Jesus himself, was standing right there. One of the most recognized principles of Bible interpretation, and one that is accepted by conservative scholars from all denominations, is that to be properly understood, the Bible must be read in a literal, "normal," or "standard" way, i.e., the words of the Word should be understood the way we understand them in everyday speech unless the figurative language is demanded by the context. Everyone understands the phrase, "my God." Christ used it both before and after his resurrection. He called to "my God" when he was on the Cross. If he was God who was he talking to? He told Mary he was going to ascend to "my God." He spoke of "my God" to both the churches of Sardis in Philadelphia (Revelation 3:2, 12). It is hard to see how Jesus can be assumed to be co-equal and co-eternal with God when he calls Him, "my God." The Bible simply means what it says in this verse: God is indeed both our God and Jesus' God.
Please study the following verses for yourselves:
Mark 12:29-30 Jesus answered, "The foremost is, HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."
Deuteronomy 4:39 "Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, he is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other."
Isaiah 44:6, 8 "thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of host: I am the 1st and I am the last, and there is no God decides me." "Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me, or is there any other rock? I know of none."
Isaiah 43:10-11 "you are my witnesses, declares the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. But for me, there was no God formed, and there will be none after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides me. And at the end of verse 12, it says "And I am God."
Joel 2:27 "Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other."
1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
John 5:44 "How can you believe, when you receive glory for one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?"
1st Corinthians 8:4-6 "Even if there are so-called God's whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through him."
James 2:19 "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder."
Jude 4, 25 for certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who are long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, unlike godly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. "To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen"
1 Timothy 1:17 "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
1 Timothy 6:14-16 "I charge you to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the proper time, he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen."
Hebrews 11: "And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him."
We have just read from the words written by Moses, Mark, Isaiah, Joel, Paul, John, James, Jude, and the writer of Hebrews and there are many others and they are all in agreement and share the same message: GOD IS ONE AND THERE IS NO OTHER! God is the sole creator. God is the highest supreme above all. His will is to know him through his son Jesus whom he created in the womb of Mary and gave him the kingdom message in Luke 4:43 but Jesus said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." This statement was given long before Jesus died, was buried, was crucified, and rose again on the 3rd day. Jesus is the only one in heaven at this time sitting at the right hand of God. He will come again as says in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 with the sound of the trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise 1st and then those of us who are still alive will join him in the air. When we die we will sleep, and unconscious sleep. Jesus said he is coming again in his reward is with him. If he is bringing his reward with him why are we going to heaven especially when we know he is coming for us? It makes no sense. What makes sense is all the Scriptures that talk of being "asleep" when we die. We can read in the Old Testament Moses died and he slept, Jacob died and he slept with his father's, David died and he slept with his father's, etc., etc. all the way through. There are many many Scriptures describing death and describe it as "sleep".
My prayer for you is 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." My prayer for you is that your hearts and minds will be opened to hear God speak with you about His Truth. My goal is to share God's word with you and not my opinions. I pray you will hear God's words, not mine, always.
Agape`
Judy Lund